


Life of Birds

by STARSdidathing



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animals, Alternate Universe - Birds, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Penguins, Birds, Crows, Curses, Fairy Tale Curses, Fairy Tale Elements, Falcons, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship, Happy Ending, I Don't Even Know, Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, M/M, Magic, Marriage Proposal, Mutual Pining, Penguins, Pining, Romantic Fluff, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, What Was I Thinking?, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:27:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26831401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/pseuds/STARSdidathing
Summary: Three short stories relating to Loki & Tony as birds (or magically turned into a bird) and falling in love.Story 1:Tony had always been different. He never got along well with the other crows. Not until he was introduced to Loki.Story 2:Loki had never expected to gain a mate. He didn’t want to hatch eggs and he thought most of his fellow penguins werestupid. The only exception to the rule was Tony.Story 3:Tony finds an injured falcon in Central Park, only it rapidly becomes apparent this cannotpossiblybe a bird.
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 204
Kudos: 536





	1. Birds of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony had always been different. He never got along well with the other crows. Not until he was introduced to Loki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was inspired by [these adorable and funny pictures](http://hardlyhalcyon.tumblr.com/post/139369526893/peaceheather-dduane-red3blog). Don't judge me, idek anymore XD
> 
> Next chapter/story will be up in a few days. The third and final one a few days after that.

Tony had always been different. He was jet black like the other crows, but he was smaller and never heeded the warnings about other birds.

They were _so_ much fun to tease. The other crows all told him that he would be gutted by an eagle before he fully matured. Tony had flicked his tail feathers at them and ignored their snipes.

He made it his mission to annoy as many other birds as possible.

It started off as a way to pass the time and to feel a little less lonely. There was a bald eagle that he liked to jump on the back of and hitch a ride, just to annoy him. The eagle, Steve, had complained for weeks, but after a while, he started to talk to Tony as he flew.

He thought Tony was lonely.

Tony had pecked him for that and flew away.

He’d avoided the eagle for a few days, choosing instead to try and fit in with the other crows. It didn’t work, and in the end, Steve came and found him.

Steve scared the other crows away by his mere presence, but he smiled at Tony and invited him to come flying. 

Knowing the other crows were watching, Tony had puffed up his feathers and gave a casual acceptance of the offer. 

He never expected that he would become part of the strangest family of birds. 

The others were all predators, there was a Harpy eagle named Bucky, a Hawk called Clint and a Shikra called Natasha. Tony was the smallest and the one everyone thought needed protection. Tony just took to grabbing and yanking Clint’s tail feathers, squawking in Bucky’s ear, riding on Steve’s back… and well... being nice to Natasha.

She was the only one he was afraid of.

He’d been with the group for a little over a month when a Golden Eagle called Thor showed up. He was a friend of Steve’s and had been out exploring. He had a booming voice and hundreds of stories. When he saw Tony, his eyes brightened and he bent down to look him in the eye.

“A crow!” Tony had puffed up, planning to argue if the Golden Eagle wanted to tell him he didn’t belong, “What a surprise! I have a brother who is a crow.”

Tony frowned. “How can you have a brother who’s a crow?”

“He was adopted,” Thor answered simply.

Which, Tony supposed, made some sense. He was still curious, but Clint interrupted, complaining, “Hey, you were in the middle of a story!”

And, although he was still curious, Tony also wanted to know the end of the story and so he sat back to listen.

He didn’t forget about Thor’s brother, but he was too distracted by _Thor_ to think about the existence of another crow somewhere in the world. Thor was loud and _fun_. He laughed at all of Tony’s pranks and even bent down to let Tony ride him.

Tony liked Thor.

He was disappointed when the Golden Eagle needed to leave. He promised to return in a week, and Tony hoped he kept his word. He was a lot of fun.

Things passed like normal while Thor was gone. He annoyed Clint, was polite to Natasha, rode on Steve’s back and got hunting lessons from Bucky. 

When Thor returned early, Tony had planned to tease the Golden Eagle about being unable to stay away, but he was stopped by the sight of a crow beside him. The crow had the blackest feathers Tony had ever seen. He was a little bigger than Tony and was so thin and sleek.

Tony had been on Steve’s back, but he jumped off and hopped over to the other crow, feeling curious. The other crow tilted his head, watching Tony with equal interest.

“Friends!” Thor boomed. “This is my brother, Loki.”

Tony had moved almost close enough to touch the other crow. Loki gave him an amused look.

“Hi,” Tony said, not sure what else to say. “I’m Tony.”

Loki smiled. “Hello, Tony.”

Tony smiled back, and, from that moment on, Tony never left Loki’s side.

The other crow was _hilarious_ and he liked to play all the same pranks that Tony did. He didn’t fear retaliation from other birds. He even dared to squawk into _Natasha’s_ ear. He then looked perfectly innocent afterwards, pretending he had done no such thing. 

Tony had chortled the whole time and when Loki flew back to him, they spent an hour talking about the hilarity of it.

He had never met another crow like Loki, and sometimes, he wondered how he’d ever had such fun without a partner in crime at his side. 

Tony had never been so happy, and he wouldn’t have realised there was anything more to it if it wasn’t for one quiet afternoon.

They were sitting on a tree branch, under the shade of the leaves and looking down at the grass below. There were a number of bugs and berries, but Tony didn’t see the need to move; he was pressed up against Loki and he felt relaxed.

“It’s nice here,” Loki said.

“Yes,” Tony agreed. “It’s my favourite tree.” 

“I know,” Loki answered.

Tony was about to make a comment on that when Loki’s head rubbed against his own. Tony’s breath caught and he looked over at Loki with surprise, but the gesture couldn’t have been anymore clear.

He swallowed, feeling as if the breeze could knock him off the branch.

“I’m male,” he whispered.

“I know.”

“We can’t nest.”

“I don’t care.” Loki rubbed against him again, the gesture full of soft affection. “I just want you.” He pressed close for a long moment before he pulled back. He shifted away and looked at Tony with both worry and hope. “Do you want me too?”

And Tony didn’t have to hesitate now that it was brought to his attention; because, they already acted like mates, didn’t they? 

Tony always wanted to spend time with Loki. He angrily scratched his claws in the grass if the female crows were around and trying to catch Loki’s attention. He went to bed wishing he hadn’t needed to part from Loki for the night.

It was why he closed the distance Loki had opened and rubbed his head against Loki’s in a gesture of equal affection. He felt all the tension fade from Loki’s body and he wiggled even closer, making sure no feather didn’t touch.

“Yeah, Loki,” he said quietly. “I want you too.”

Loki sighed happily and his feathers shivered with contentment.

“We can make a nest in this tree,” he said, turning his head and beginning to groom the feathers at the back of Tony’s neck. 

Tony let out a sigh of pleasure. “I’d like that, Loki.”

Loki nuzzled Tony again, stopping his fussing with Tony’s feathers but still remaining close.

“We shall start tomorrow,” Loki told him. “I know where to get the best twigs.”

It made Tony’s body flood with warmth. 

He’d never seen the point of mating and courting the other crows, but maybe, sitting here, he could understand why they did it.

He certainly would have done all he could to court Loki, if the other crow hadn’t already been courting him.

Turning his head, he ran his beak through Loki’s feathers, feeling calmed and happy to be able to do it. Loki made a soft noise of contentment. Tony couldn’t wait to do this every night; he couldn’t wait to share a _nest_ with Loki.

“Tomorrow can’t come fast enough,” Tony whispered.

And, when Loki smiled at him, Tony felt like he’d finally found where he was meant to belong.


	2. Mate for Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was entirely inspired by the fact that penguins mate for life and propose via a pebble which is flippin' adorable. ~~Did you see what I did there? XD~~ And I suppose you could stretch it to Jotuns and ice if you wanted XD

Loki had never expected to gain a mate. 

He was antagonistic and selfish. He didn’t want to hatch eggs and he thought most of his fellow penguins were _stupid_.

The only exception to the rule was Tony. 

Tony was shorter than your average penguin. He flirted with every available bird, whether male or female. He always came and sat by Loki, complaining about the weather, discussing the best fish, and rolling his eyes at the behaviour of the other penguins in their clan.

Loki liked Tony, even if Tony was short and irritating and _handsome._

He was one of the most eligible penguins. He would provide good food and stability to a mate and any future chicks. He was a kind penguin, and a wise choice for any female.

Loki knew it was only a matter of time before he would see his friend with another.

He waited with dread for the day that he would see Tony carrying a pebble in his beak, preparing to proffer it to his lady-love in a gesture of commitment and affection.

Loki knew it could happen any day - but it still hurt when mating season arrived and Tony left for the entire day only to make his way across the ice with a smooth black rock between his beak.

Loki’s heart fell and he knew it was ridiculous. He was a _male_ penguin and Tony had been out of his reach since the moment they met.

He tried to muster up a smile as the other penguin approached; “Finally chosen your mate, have you? I know half the clan has been hoping to gain your proposal.”

Loki was trying to be calm and disinterested. There were a dozen other penguins around him, Loki was bracing for the moment.

He watched Tony bend down and lay the beautiful black stone on the ice. It shined in the light and Loki’s heart ached; if only that courting gift was his, he would treasure it.

Tony still hadn’t responded to him, nor would he look at Loki. His head was bowed and he nudged the pebble forward which was… strange, because the direction he was sending it was… towards _Loki_.

Loki sucked in a breath and shifted, watching as the other penguin nudged carefully, letting it slide across the ice and land directly at Loki’s feet.

Tony had perfect aim, there was no way he had sent it to Loki by accident. Loki stared down at it. He then cautiously bent down, touching the pebble with his beak and confirming it was, in fact, what he believed.

When he was sure, he let it go and jerked his attention to the other penguin. Tony was shuffling on his feet, his movements nervous and unsure.

“You’re proposing to me?” Loki whispered, his voice breathless.

Tony darted his eyes to Loki and gave a shy smile. “Who else would I propose to?” He shifted and looked away again. “I even chose a black one. I knew you’d like that more.”

He was right, Loki _loved_ black.

And Tony was _proposing_ to him. Loki wanted to laugh, but he didn’t, instead he grinned.

“Well, don’t just stand there,” he insisted. “Come greet your husband.”

It took Tony a moment, but the second he realised what Loki said, he was across the ice and closing the distance. He pressed against Loki and tucked his head under Loki’s chin. He made a trill of happiness and Loki did the same.

They were so close that not a sliver of wind could get between them. There were a hundred other couples all in similar positions; joined together by a proposal and a commitment that would last them for a lifetime.

Most of them, would take this position numerous times to hatch and look after an egg; but Loki and Tony didn’t need to worry about that. 

Instead, they held something just as precious between their bodies; a shiny black pebble that had taken them from friends filled with longing, to two birds who would be in love and together for the rest of their lives.


	3. It's True Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we get a slight change to the proceedings. There is a bird, but also a human too - and a little bit of magic. Enjoy! :)

Tony isn’t a pet person. He can barely look after himself, let alone an animal.

But, the thing is, he _likes_ animals. They don’t always like him, but they’re soft and fluffy and affectionate. He’s man enough to admit, he’ll melt for big brown eyes looking up at him and demanding a pat.

It’s how he ends up building toys for Pepper’s cat. It’s how he ends up patting every single dog in the park (assuming the owner’s have said it’s okay). 

He’s actually in Central Park running when the whole mess starts.

Tony’s just casually doing his thing and running down a pathway when he sees it. The bird is on the ground, its wing twitching in an attempt to flutter, but unable to lift from the ground. Tony slows down until he can come to a halt a little away from the bird. It’s noticeably distressed and it’s sharp eye is pinned on Tony.

It’s a falcon. Tony only knows what kind of bird it is from watching shows set in Medieval England. It’s small and has brown feathers. It also has sharp claws and a deadly looking beak. It’s _injured_ though, and Tony can’t leave it for an animal or less kind-hearted human to find.

The main problem is that it’s early in the morning. The sun has barely risen. There are few people who will be awake at this hour and able to help him.

He can’t just leave the bird here.

“Shit,” he hisses and fishes around in his pocket for his phone. He does a quick internet search and it tells him to find a box. “Where the fuck am I going to get a box in the middle of Central Park? Fuck.”

Rubbing a hand over his face, Tony looks back at the bird which, to his surprise, doesn’t seem as nervous. It’s watching Tony with eyes that look surprisingly… intelligent? Like it knows what Tony is trying to do?

Tony has no idea how smart falcons are, but surely, it’s a leap for the bird to put ‘box’ and ‘rescue’ together?

Tony chews on his bottom lip. He can’t leave the bird here to find a box. He has to do something.

“Okay,” he says, considering things for a moment before he grabs the hem of his shirt and pulls it over his head. 

He puts his phone in his pocket and does the best that he can to fold the shirt into something vaguely nest-like.

Tony watches the bird warily and takes a cautious step forward. He also talks, because he’s nervous, and those claws look _sharp_.

“I know this isn’t a box, and I probably look like a giant predator to you, but I’m just trying to help. I need to pick you up so I can take you to a vet or a wildlife centre. We need to get you checked out. I don’t want to leave you here for something to catch.”

The bird is still breathing heavily, but it’s not trying to struggle or move away. Tony hopes that doesn’t mean it’s more injured than it appears; but its eyes are _watching_ him. Tony feels like the bird knows exactly what he’s doing and is trusting him to do it.

Tony doesn’t know if that’s true or not, but when he stops right beside the bird and bends down, it doesn’t move. When he tentatively picks it up, using his shirt as a barrier between it and the animal’s feathers, the bird is lax in his arms. It twitches a little when Tony inadvertently touches its damaged wing and he quickly apologises, “Sorry!”

The bird doesn’t bite him or try to struggle and Tony is able to carefully carry the bird out of Central Park. He can only assume the bird must belong to someone for it to be so accepting of humans.

It’s not a long walk back to his apartment, but it seems to take forever. When he gets there, he empties out a box of spare parts and places his shirt and the bird inside. He doesn’t have any twigs or leaves, but after washing his hands, he quickly scavenges something from his lab to work as a makeshift heater.

He then looks down at the falcon that looks exhausted. He wonders how long it had been lying there, although that thought makes his heart ache for the little guy. So, he focuses on finding somewhere he can take the bird to for a check-up.

It takes a bit of searching, but he finds a vet who deals with wild animals and takes the falcon down to his car and drives across town. He doesn’t have an appointment so it takes an annoyingly long time to see anyone.

The falcon has a broken wing and looks a little malnourished and dehydrated. It has no tags or identification that would indicate it belongs to someone. The vet has no idea what it was doing in Central Park. 

He straps the bird’s wing and then explains the facts: there’s nothing else he can do. The bird just has to be given time to heal. Additionally, Tony either has to find someone else to take the bird, or look after it himself.

It isn’t what Tony was hoping for. He gets given a few numbers of wildlife rehabilitators and sent on his way (after paying the bill, of course; being a Good Samaritan isn’t cheap).

He stands outside the vet with a box, a bird, and a handful of phone numbers of people who _might_ be able to help him.

Looking down at the bird that is already staring up at him, Tony mutters, “I think I need to call Pepper.”

* * *

Pepper doesn’t believe him. She thinks he’s trying to skip the meetings he had scheduled for the day. It takes him pleading with her until she finally comes to his apartment and sees the evidence. She stares at the falcon with wide-eyes before, in a rush of pure efficiency, starts calling all the wildlife numbers the vet gave him, and then a few more.

Tony is happy to just sit down and stare at the falcon.

He feels like he shouldn’t do that, like maybe he’s challenging it, but he can’t shake the feeling the bird is analysing him.

Tony narrows his eyes and asks it, semi-seriously, “Why do I feel like you can understand everything that is happening?”

The bird actually nods its head up and down. Tony blinks at it. “Did you just nod at me?”

The bird nods again, as if to say _yes_.

“No way,” Tony declares. “Nu uh. I’m clearly not thinking straight. No way did the bird just answer my questions.”

The falcon makes a noise of irritation – _irritation_ as if it’s unhappy that Tony isn’t listening to it. 

But, that would be insane, and he shakes head. He needs a coffee. If he’s starting to believe a falcon can understand human speech patterns, then he definitely needs more caffeine.

Thankfully, the falcon doesn’t do anything else that Tony would deem ‘strange’, at least, not while Pepper is there.

She makes him a list of instructions that the wildlife people have given her and gives him a worried look. “Will you be okay to do this?”

“How hard can it be?”

“You need to _remember_ to look after him, Tony.”

Tony grimaces, knowing that’s a fair point. “Send me reminders?”

She nods. “I would take him myself, but-”

“You have a cat, I know,” Tony insists. “We’ll be fine.”

Pepper smiles and reaches for his arm, squeezing it gently. “You’re a good person, Tony, with a big heart.”

“What? Who told you such lies? We all know I don’t have one.”

Shaking her head, Pepper leans forward to place a friendly kiss to his cheek. “Take care, Tony. I’m only a phone call away.”

“Thanks, Pep.”

She flashes him one more smile before leaving. Tony shuts the door before turning back to the bird in the box. Its head is swivelling around and surveying the room, but it doesn’t take long for the falcon to lock its sharp eyes on Tony. He tries not to feel discomforted.

“Well, since you’ve managed to get me out of my meetings today, I suppose I better do something productive.”

Walking over to his tablet which is on the coffee table beside the box, he picks it up and takes a seat on the couch. Pulling open an internet browser he types in ‘falcons’.

“Let’s see what I can find out about you,” he mutters.

In response, the falcon tilts its head, continuing to watch Tony with sharp, penetrating eyes that make him feel like he’s being dissected.

He forces himself not to type in ‘ _can a falcon answer yes or no questions?_ ’ because he’s not sure he wants to know the answer to that yet.

* * *

Tony reads a lot about falcons over the next three days.

His conclusion? His falcon is fucking weird. Ridiculously smart too.

Tony tries asking it questions and as long as there is a yes or a no, he can answer correctly every time.

Tony even throws in some strange ones, _‘Am I holding up three fingers?’, ‘Is my name Tony?’, ‘Do I have coffee in my hand?’_

Yet, the falcon never misses his mark.

Tony is confused. He’s not sure what to do either. The falcon seems comfortable and content; he eats whatever Tony puts down, he doesn’t fiddle with his healing wing. He’s docile.

When Tony carefully takes him out of the box wearing three towels wrapped around his arm, the falcon is easy to handle. He puts the falcon on the floor and he walks around carefully. The problem only occurs when the bird finds a pad of paper and pulls it down from the coffee table with his beak.

“Hey!” Tony tries to protest. 

The falcon glares at him and then turns back to whatever its doing. He raises one claw and draws a line on the paper, looking like he goes through half the pad. The falcon then moves and draws another line. 

It’s an ‘L’, and suddenly, Tony’s uncertainty vanishes for disbelief.

The falcon makes a clicking noise but draws something that looks like a ‘c’ before hoping to the other side of the paper and connecting it to make an ‘O’.

Tony is only able to gape as a ‘K’ is added followed by an ‘I’.

When its finished, the falcon turns and looks at him expectantly.

“L-Loki?” Tony croaks, and even though he expects it, he still feels mystified when the falcon’s head comes down in a nod.

Staring at the falcon, at _Loki_ , Tony declares, “There is no fucking way you’re a bird.”

Loki looks truly sardonic as he nods his head again.

Suddenly, everything becomes a lot more complicated.

* * *

Tony gets down a large piece of paper and writes down all the letters of the alphabet. He puts it on the ground and uses a smaller piece of paper to make notes. He tells Loki to explain it to him by pointing at the letters.

He feels a little silly at the beginning, but slowly, as the falcon starts walking over and tapping each letter, things start to become a lot less ridiculous.

_I am under a spell.  
I am a human.  
I need help._

Tony stares at the sentences he’s written after copying down each letter the falcon has pointed to. The evidence is clear. Magic exists and Tony’s walked right into the middle of it. He’s never even _believed_ in magic, but this is not the kind of thing you can just explain away. 

“How do you, um, break it?”

_I don’t know._

“Do you know how you were cursed?”

_No._

Tony lets out a frustrated breath. “That’s not very helpful.”

Loki looks at him with matching irritation. He supposes Loki does have more reason to be angry than Tony does. He might be drawn into the middle of this, but at least he isn’t stuck as a bird with a broken wing.

“Okay,” Tony says. “We can figure this out. If magic exists, there’s got to be existence of it somewhere.” 

Reaching for his tablet, Tony pulls up an internet window, but he stares at the search bar wondering what to type: how do you find magic websites? Is it like the dark web where you have to know where to go? He can’t imagine anyone can just search for it.

He chews on his lip, wondering what to do. He only looks down when he hears the clicking of Loki’s claws on the floor as he comes closer. Tony looks down at the falcon who is watching him with the same intensity as always.

“Any ideas?” he questions.

Loki shakes his head in a no, and Tony lets out a loud, frustrated huff of breath. This isn’t going to be easy, but, Pepper always says he likes a challenge.

* * *

Tony gets used to having Loki around. He also gets used to the strange looks when he starts buying books on magic. He reads science journals. He is an engineer. He is not the sort of person to walk into a crystal shop asking about transfiguration.

He isn’t even sure if that’s what’s happened to Loki. He’s found no evidence that magic exists outside the falcon in his living room. The falcon is very good evidence though, he has to admit.

Loki is interesting too. He’s funny, which is surprising, since Tony is not sure how you keep a joke humorous when you’re tapping out one letter a second. Loki is surprisingly optimistic too, for being stuck in the form of a falcon.

Tony knows he would be depressed, but Loki is just glad someone has found him and believes him. He is certain they’ll find a solution, Tony just nods along and promises Loki he won’t stop trying. Tony knows that birds can’t smile, but he always feels like Loki is flashing him a grateful grin whenever Tony promises that.

It takes three and a half weeks for Loki’s wing to heal. Tony takes him back to the vet to make sure everything is in place and nothing has gone wrong. The vet suggests a good place to set him free, Tony smiles, promises to think about it, and gets the hell out of there before anyone can ask any more questions.

When he gets back to his apartment, he opens the box and looks down at Loki. “Try not to damage anything or hurt yourself.”

Loki looks affronted, but he spreads his wings regardless and gives them a few test flutters. When he’s assured, he beats them and takes off into the air. There isn’t a lot of space to manoeuvre and Loki only goes as far as the floor in front of the couch, but it’s a good test flight.

He lands gracefully and Tony is grateful to see there’s no lasting damage. If only the spell was so easy.

Putting his keys on the counter and the box on the floor, Tony makes his way over to one of the many useless magic books he’s bought recently. He doesn’t want to admit that he thinks they’re all going to be a dead end. Tony thinks the clue lies in how, where and _why_ Loki got cursed.

The problem is, every time Tony asks, Loki either can’t remember or shakes his head as if he’s unable to answer.

It’s a long uphill battle, but Tony doesn’t stop.

He does still have to work; sign documents, go to meetings and invent, but any spare minute he has, he dedicates it to helping Loki.

He also talks to Loki, explaining what he’s up to and why he has to stop working on the spell otherwise Pepper will kill him for neglecting his duties. Tony did try to tell Pepper about the spell, but she thought he was sleep-deprived and although Loki tries, he can’t actually communicate with anyone else.

Tony really, really hopes he isn’t going crazy.

The upside however, to being the majority shareholder (and genius inventor) of a company is that no one can tell you not to bring your falcon with you when you visit. Pepper is afraid Loki might attack someone and bring about a lawsuit, but Loki sits placidly on the leather brace Tony made for his arm. He simply enjoys being out and seeing something other than the four walls of Tony’s apartment.

They go back to Central Park a dozen times, letting Loki stretch his wings while trying to find anything that indicates where Loki came from and how he got hit by a spell.

But, there’s nothing.

He knows Loki is starting to get worried, and Tony has taken to running his fingers through the falcon’s feathers. “We’ll find a solution to this. I won’t give up until we do.”

Loki always nods and curls a little more into Tony’s affectionate touches, drawing strength from them. 

At the beginning, Loki had slept on a perch in the living room, but after they hit the one-month mark and Loki got more and more despondent, Tony had brought the perch into his room, beside his bed.

He talks to Loki all the time, rambling about what’s in his head, what he’s doing and what new avenues he’s attempting to try and get Loki his freedom. 

Tony is running on caffeine and a lack of sleep when he does it; Loki has been looking so sad, and he’s not thinking, but he bends down and presses his lips to the falcon’s feathery little head.

His lips linger there and then, well, suddenly there aren’t smooth feathers under his lips, suddenly there is _black hair_ and they’re fucking lucky Loki was sitting on his desk at the time because when a full-grown adult appears, the desk manages to take his weight.

Tony stares with wide eyes, and the man – _Loki_ stares back.

“What the fuck?” He whispers, only for it to really _click_ a moment later, and then he’s giddy. “Oh my God. Loki. You’re Loki? You’re here and not a bird?!”

“Y-Yes,” Loki said, his voice croaky from disuse.

Tony doesn’t think, he throws his arms around the other man, barely caring at the fact he’s _naked_ and that’s a lot of pale, gorgeous skin. All that matters is that Loki is _here_ and _not a bird_ , and they did it!

Loki hesitates but then he hugs him back, his touch strong and a little desperate and Tony can’t blame him for it. Tony smiles as he turns his face into Loki’s hair; he smells like snowfall and fresh thyme. 

It takes a moment before Tony works out exactly what the trigger was that turned Loki human.

He pulls back abruptly and stares at the other man. Loki is confused. “Tony?”

“I kissed you, and you turned back.” Loki shifts and even though he's never seen Loki as a human before, he knows that look. He looks guilty and Tony narrows his eyes. “What is it? What’s going on?”

“I… may have not mentioned something about the spell.”

“Which is?”

Loki raises his head, stunning green eyes looking up at Tony from beneath a curtain of black hair. He gives a wry little smile that can’t hide his nerves. “Don’t you read fairytales?”

It takes Tony a moment to make the connection, his voice has raised a few octaves higher and he doesn’t care, “Are you saying I’m your ‘ _true love’?_ ”

Loki gives a half shrug, but he’s still holding Tony’s eyes; he looks determined and intrigued and _hopeful_.

“Maybe,” Loki says. “And I would like to find out.”

Tony opens his mouth to voice a complaint but… stops. He likes Loki. He’s enjoyed spending time with the falcon and laughing at his jokes. He knows a bird is a far cry from a man, but Loki is beautiful. He’s the kind of guy that if Tony saw him walking down the street, he’d give him an appreciative glance and strike up a conversation in a heartbeat.

And, maybe this is a load of bullshit, but Tony’s already admitted that magic has to be real. Maybe it’s a coincidence or maybe true love is real too.

Regardless of the truth, Tony still finds himself with the same answer, “I’d like to find out as well.”

When Loki smiles at him, Tony feels his heart skip a beat, and when Loki leans in towards him, Tony closes his eyes. 

Loki’s kiss is soft and sweet and Tony brings up his hands to cup Loki’s cheeks.

It’s hardly a conventional way to gain a boyfriend, but then, when has Tony ever wanted to be normal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this whacky little trip down the feathery road XD


End file.
